WIFE MATERIAL- On The Other Hand…

Gbade watched helplessly as Ogonna was wheeled away. What
was happening? He thought. ‘Not my baby! No! Not my baby!’ He almost screamed
aloud. What had she done? Did she take any drugs? Did she sleep in the wrong
positions? What did she do to have caused her to bleed?

He rammed his fists on the wall and hit it harder and harder
till it swelled and bled. He hurried outside the hospital and exhaled loudly.
He felt so bad. He took his phone out of his pocket and dialled a number. The
phone rang four times before the person answered.

“Hello…” Morayo’s voice floated down the line.

“It’s me…Gbade.” He said.

“It’s two am in the morning and yes, I know it’s you….”
Morayo said.

“I just called to warn you…” He said in a desperate and
strangled voice.

“Warn me?” Morayo asked incredulously. “What for?”

“Yes, I am calling to warn you. I don’t care if you have bad
feelings or intentions towards me but I just want you to know that if you ever
take your evil intentions near my unborn child, I swear I’ll…”

“What are you talking about? How dare you call me at such an
ungodly hour to spit nonsense?” Morayo shouted.

“I have warned you! Ogonna is in the hospital right now and
you know she’s pregnant for my child….”

“Listen to me Gbade or whatever you call yourself. You must
have the nerve to call me at this hour to talk rubbish to me. You wanted a
separation and I gave it to you. You wanted a divorce, and I gave it to you.
Don’t you dare call me and accuse me of something baseless…I am warning you.”

“You have a wicked mind and just as you killed my son, you
must have sworn that there’ll be no cry of a baby in my house! I’m sure you must
have gone diabolical because even when I left you, you didn’t fight Ogonna for
me. I am sure you had something else up your sleeve and that’s why I’m warning
you. If you ever…” He said but the line went dead. “Stupid b**ch! She’s
jealous that I’m having a good life! She’s angry that I’m happy now and that
she’s living a miserable and sorry life that’s why she’s trying to ruin it for
me! Leave me alone Morayo! You can never make me happy, you hear me!” He
screamed as he kicked the dust on the ground.

A female voice said to him from behind.

“Sir, you just brought a lady to the clinic…right?”

Gbade turned to face her.

“Yes…I did…where is she? How is she?”

“The doctor will see you now, sir…” The nurse said.

Gbade nodded and followed her into the hospital.

*********

Nkiru rushed into her parents’ flat, they were standing
around her sister who was lying on the sofa and talking gibberish.

“She’s been like this since this morning…” Her mother
said.

“Are…you…serious?” Nkiru stammered, reaching out to
touch her sister’s hair.

“Don’t…aarrrggghhh…” Her sister snapped at her.

“Sister Ihuoma, it’s me…Nkiru…” She said softly.

“Calling her name will do no good. She’s so sick, her
temperature is high and …” Their father said emotionally.

“Let’s take her to a hospital…” Nkiru said.

“We took her in the morning…they gave us some drugs…”
Her brother said.

“So, why don’t we give her the drugs and be optimistic?”
Nkiru whispered.

“That’s not all the doctors said…” Her mother said.

“What else did they say?”

“They…said that she needs to be admitted into an institution…”
Her mother said in a broken voice.

“Whaaaat? A What?” Nkiru asked, feeling so guilty.

“Yes a mental institution.” Her father said. “I have called
Sam’s phone all day today and it’s switched off…I really need to speak to
him.”

Nkiru’s mother removed her wrapper which she had tied on her
waist so she wore only her blouse and under-tights. She raised her hands up and
said.

“God, look at me, I have never wronged any man’s child or
brought calamity to anyone. I swear on this day upon whoever may have brought
this kind of misfortune on my daughter Ihuoma, I swear that…”

“Leave me alone Nkiru! You don’t understand what it means to
carry a child for nine months and go through the pains of childbirth, watch the
child grow and become a woman and a mother and such thing as evil as this
happens to her. Tell me, who have I wronged? Who has decided to do this to me?
Leave me alone let me curse the person. It is not easy to nurture a child…it
is not easy to…oh my God!” She cried.

“Mommy, remember the bible says, do not swear on heaven
because it’s God’s dwelling place or on earth because it’s His footstool”.
Nkiru pleaded.

“Abeg let her swear jare. Mommy swear! God will punish the
hand that did this! Nkiru, when did you become an evangelist? I can’t remember
the last time you visited church.” Kene said.

“How are you so sure that someone did this?” Nkiru asked,
trying not to tremble.

Her mother broke down in tears.

“Listen, we will call Sam and see if we can get through to
him. Until then, we cannot take her anywhere because she’s his wife…” Their
father said.

Nkiru breathed a quick sigh of relief, happy that the first
storm had passed.

********

Morayo sat on her chair and stared at the files on her desk
while trying to remember if Gbade’s call was in a dream or in reality. It was
indeed real because she had checked her call log over and over again this
morning and had seen his name. She was still deep in thought when Ebube knocked
and walked in bearing a huge bouquet of white roses and a box of chocolates.

“Hmmm…Something special for the special lady huh?” Ebube
said as she placed the gifts on Morayo’s desk.

“What are you doing at work? I thought you had exams this
week.” Morayo said looking at the flowers and the chocolates.

“Yea…I loaned something from Bruno and decided to come
today in order to return it.” Ebube said. “As I walked into the office, guess
what I saw at the reception? A box of chocolates and a bouquet of white roses
for a beautiful lady and from a special guy.” She giggled.

“You are funny Ebube…”Morayo smiled as she stood up to
check the card on the flowers. “It’s from Kolade.”

“Ooooohhhh…” Ebube smiled.

“Stop getting all mushy…”

“Has he asked you out yet?” Ebube asked grinning from ear to
ear.

“Yea…he did…I acted like a stuck up b**ch and said no.”

“What? Why? Don’t tell me you are still waiting for Gbade to
come home like in the seventies movies.”

“Talking about Gbade, do you know he called me last night?”

Ebube rolled her eyes.

“Mo’ that guy hurt you, why would you still give him room to
finish his work?”

“No, that’s not it. He called me to warn me severely about
Ogonna’s pregnancy.”

“What?”

“According to him, Ogonna is in the hospital and he’s scared
they might lose the baby so, he called me to warn me just in case I used juju
on her.” Morayo smiled ruefully. “Can you imagine? Gbade called me to warn me
that he’d hold me responsible if anything happens to his child.”

“Is he sick?” Ebube asked. “Are you serious?”

“Mehn, I have suffered. Can you imagine? I wish I he could have
told me that to my face! I’d have wounded him badly.” Morayo said. Then in
tired voice, she asked. “What does Gbade really want from me?”

“Okay…hold up! Let me understand your gist, so…Gbade
called you to inform you of Ogonna’s condition at the hospital and warned
you…this doesn’t make any sense. Is he high on some kind of drugs?”

“I don’t know…” Morayo shrugged.

“I noticed that Ogonna has been skipping classes, she even
missed the revision and I was meaning to call her to remind her that final
exams begin tomorrow but…”

“Well…”

“Mo’ don’t beat yourself too hard. Take the easy route out
of this charade and be with Kolade. He is a good guy, I mean…he sounds really
serious about you and I believe that you guys something ….you know.”

“I was never holding back because of Gbade…just so you
know…” Morayo said.

“You have your reasons and no matter what I say, you are the
one to make the final decision.

Remember that sometimes, we think we have
figured out everything in life but the real truth is, we know nothing at all.
Take what life offers one step at a time and do not ever give yourself room to
regret what you would have had.” Ebube said. “I’ll be leaving now…can I have
some chocolates?” She smiled.

“Naaaa….this one was sent specially to me, I’ll give you
money to get another box.” Morayo said as she pulled open her drawer and gave
Ebube some money.

Ebube smiled and skipped out. Just as she was about opening
the door, Morayo said.

“Ebube!”

Ebube turned back to look at her.

“Thank you, for everything.”

Ebube nodded and left the office.

**********

Kolade had just dropped off his kids at their school and was
headed towards his new office complex when he received a call.

“Hey Mo’ what’s up?” He asked.

“I received your message. That was very thoughtful of you…”
Morayo said over the phone.

“Well, I felt we didn’t end dinner well, so I had to make
things up.”

“No, I’m the wrong one here…I err…reacted rather off…”
She said.

“No need to apologize, I understand…”

“Well..I just want to say thank you and also ask you if the
offer of yesterday still stands.”

“What offer?” Kolade started then suddenly broke into a
smile. “You mean the part where I asked that we start seeing each other?”

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ABOUT ME

Adaeze Ibechukwu is a writer and Storyteller . She's been writing since she was child and has published two children’s short stories at the age of nine. She was the 2015 Story Series Writer of the year at the Nigerian Awards and also named one of the most influential writers under 40, by the platform. She has also written scripts for movies and stage plays.

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Adaezewrites.com is a storytelling platform aimed at providing entertainment and fun for readers. Adaeze Writes, is committed to building a strong reading platform for Nigerians, Africans and everyone who loves a good story.
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